Short Fuse
What percentage art? What percentage terrorist attack?
Read MoreUnlike the rock star supporters of Pussy Riot, Garry Kasparov lives in Moscow, which means, given how the Putin regime has dealt with critics, he has a lot more to fear than, say, Madonna, who nevertheless should be applauded for speaking out at her Moscow concert.
Read MoreDissident artist Ai Weiwei speaks for an alternate China, another possibility for it. In a sense, he is the anti-Mao. Alison Klayman’s “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry” is an essential introduction to his work to date.
Read MoreArt and science rebuffed each other in this show. Visitors are unlikely to leave with either a greater understanding of cosmology or of Josiah McElheny’s art.
Read MoreAs monster fiction, “Vlad” has hints, now and then, of what “Talulla Rising” doesn’t aspire to. In the former, Carlos Fuentes peels back the familiar to provide glimpses of the genuinely horrific.
Read MoreHere you have it: Werewolves are horny, vamps merely thirsty. This, to be sure, is material to work with, as novelist Glen Duncan does. But I can’t help thinking about great nineteenth-century novels of involuntary transformation.
Read MoreThere have been over twenty movie adaptations of H. P. Lovecraft stories, all nearly forgotten. And yet Lovecraft’s sensibility serves as a guide to much of today’s cinema.
Read MoreWhat struck me about “Hunger Games” is that the rules change in Katniss Everdeen’s battle to survive against others like her, including others she likes, might even love.
Read MoreA new Haggadah has recently been published, the “New American Haggadah,” edited by Jonathan Safran Foer and translated by Nathan Englander. It’s getting a lot of attention and some criticism from “elders.” But maybe the Haggadah is beside the point. . .
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Music Commentary: A Deepdive into The Mothers of Invention’s “Plastic People”